Surreal
by McGonagall's Bola
Summary: It all seemed so surreal, but it wasn't any less true. She'd been there his whole life... HP/MM -REWRITTEN!


Harry Potter didn't miss the sigh that escaped his lover's swollen lips – swollen from his kiss. His fingers halted in her hair for a moment, and he just watched her as he sat leaning against the headboard of the bed, his legs slightly spread to accommodate Minerva, who rested in-between and had her head on his thigh. Despite her considerable age, she was still pretty and very attractive… not to mention active enough in bed.

At the stop of the soothing motion, Minerva pushed herself higher slightly and quietly looked at him over her shoulder. "What's the matter?" she wondered, worriedly.

"I rather ask you that," Harry replied.

She sighed once more. "How did we ever get here?"

"Well…" Harry began, letting his sentence trail off as he continued tenderly stroking through her hair. He waited to continue until she'd let her head fall against his thigh again. "I carried you through the door… but I know what you mean," he added, as he felt how she movedas if wanting to rise up to look at him again.

"It all seems so surreal," she admitted, eventually.

"I know," he replied, "but it doesn't make me love you any less. Actually it feels as if I always have, deep down… inside, and that I just never realized until after the war and until I finally had the chance to look at my life without having to worry about Voldemort or Horcruxes… or getting killed in any way. You were right there, as you had always been. You understood me when not even Ron or Hermione let alone Ginny did. They all voted for me to stay at the Weasleys and didn't get that I wanted to be here, despite the castle being in ruins. You did."

"Of course I did," she replied, "my life really began here as well."

Harry smiled, reaching for the sheet with his other hand and dragging it up higher as he saw a shiver run through his lover's being. "I never felt connected to mom or dad with the Dursleys or anyplace else than here – the world in which they met and fell in love with each other and had me. Hogwarts will always be a part of me, just as you are. I couldn't imagine Hogwarts without you."

Hiding her face deeper in his thigh, she sighed and murmured, "One day you'll have to. It would be foolish to believe otherwise. You're over half a century younger than me. You'll have to imagine this…" she said, momentarily lifting her hand to emphasize her meaning.

"I don't want to…" Harry said, quietly shaking his head to discontinue her.

A small smile passed over her features as she nuzzled into his thigh. "I can't believe that I knew even your dad and mom as children. I can't believe that you would… If I don't already look hideous now, it'll get worse only … and the day you realize, you'll leave me, and…"

Halting his hand on her shoulder, he slightly applied pressure so that she rolled on her back, looking up at him. He smiled slightly as emerald green eyes connected with his slightly more olive green ones. "I believe maybe that's just the reason why I love you. You've been there my whole life. I couldn't imagine it all without you. I can't not love you."

"…but as a lover?" she wondered.

Moving his forefinger and middle finger over her lips, Harry silenced her. "As a lover," he confirmed. "You don't really give yourself enough credit, my love. That's another thing I find so very charming about you. You always look so self-assured, but deep down inside, you're just as insecure and afraid of certain things as anyone of us."

She kissed his fingers. "Tell that to the world, and I'm hexing you, Mr. Potter."

He chuckled. "Without your strong presence and lead, getting the British Wizarding World back together would have been immensely more difficult. I know that it is partially who you have to be, both for the people who depend on you and yourself, but I'm still glad that you let me in. I feared that after Dumbledore, you'd…"

"I didn't," she said, pausing for a moment then elaborating. "I lost a very important person in my life with Albus. We kept contact after I graduated, while I was abroad to get my Master in Transfiguration… and he soon became my dearest companion ever since I began working here as a teacher. No day goes by that I don't miss him, but I'm still here."

"Yes, you are…" Harry whispered, moving his arm around her and holding her against him, as he slid himself further down, Minerva coming to rest atop of him once he finally lay down. A sigh of contentment escaped both. She tenderly kissed his chest and looked up at him, smiling upon feeling the burgeoning evidence of his newly awakening arousal against her thigh.

He smiled down at her sheepishly. "Never dare doubt if I want you," he said, matter-of-factly, reaching down with his hand to stroke away some wisps of graying ebony and caress her cheek. Harry's thumb trailed her bottom lip as love showed in his eyes. Surreal it certainly was, yet not any less true.

She _giggled_. Moving her leg to straddle him and rising on her knees slightly, she spoke, "Maybe you should show me again just to convince me?"


End file.
